Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1887-09-02
And seest thou tTlis5'' and he held Ink
osiEaasi before mis- avea


laughed long and loud, as ne answered, 81
would that thou stoodst against me, man
to man. and we would see;" and again he
turned to go, still laughing.
Thou shalt stand against me, man to
man, be not afraid, " replied Umslopogaas
still in the same ominous voice. Thou
shalt stand face to face with Umslopogaas,
of the blood of Chaka, of the people OF the
Amazulu, captain in the regiment Of the
Nkomabakosi, as many have done before,
and bow tbyself to Inkosikaasi, as many
have done before. Ay, laugh on, laugh on!
tomorrow night shall the jackals laugh az
they crunch thy ribs"
When the Lygonani had gone, one of US
thought Of opening the basket he had
brought as a proof that Flossie was really
their prisoner On lifting the lid it was
found to contain a most lovely specimen
of both bulb and flower of the Goya lily,
which | have already described, in full
bloom and quite uninjured; and, what was
more, a note in FlOsSie's childish hand,
written in pencil upon a greasy piece of
paper that had been used TO wrap some
food in.
DEAREST FATHER AND MOTHER" ran
the note The Nasal caught us when we
were coming home with the lily. / tried
to escape but could not. They killed Tom;
the other man ran away They have not
hurt nurse and me, bat say that they mean
10 exchange Us against one OF Mr.. Quarter
mains yarty. I triH haze nothing Of the
sort DO not let anybody give his life for
me. Try and attack them at night; they
are going Ia feast on three bull0Cks they
haze stoica AM killed. | have my pistol,
and il no help comes by dawn viii shoot
myself They shall not xiii me. If 50, re
member me always. dearest father and
mother ! am very frightened, but l trust
in God. Idare not write any more as they
are beginning to notice. Good by.
FLOssIE."
Scrawlcd across the outside OF this was
'Iove to Mr.. Quartermain. They are go
ing to take up the basket, 50 he will get the
lily"
When | read those words. written by
that brave little girl in the hour Of danger
sufficiently near and horrible to have
turned the brain Of Il strong man, own /
wept; and once more III my heart | vowed
that She should not die whiIe my life could
be given TO save her.
Then eagerly, quickly, almost flerccly,
we fell to discussing the situation. Again
lsaid that wOali 20, and again Mackenzie
negatived it, and Curtis and Good, like the
true men that they are, vowed that, if /
did, they would 90 with me, and die back
to back with me.
at is, " sail at last, absolutely neces-
sary that an effort Of some sort should be
made before the morning.
Then let us attack them with what force
We can muster, and take our chance" said
Sir Henry.
"Ay, ny" growled Umslopogaas in Zulu;
spoken like n man, Iucubu. What IS
there 70 be afraid of? Two hundred and
fifty Nasal, forsooth, How many are we?
The chief there (Mr. Mackenzie has TWEEN
ty men, and thou, MacumaZahn, hast five
men, and there are also five white men
that is thirty men in all-cnough, enough.
Listen now, MacumaZahn, thou who art
very clever, and old in war What says
the maid? These men eat and make mer-
ry, let it be their funeral feast What said
the dog whom hope to hew down at day
break2 That he feared no attack because
we were so few. Knowcst thou the old
kraal where the men have camped? | saw
it this morning; it is thus" and he drew an
oval on the floor; "hore is the big entrance,
filed up with thorn bushes and giving on
to n steep rise. Why, mcubu, thou and l
with axes VIII hold it against an hundred
men striving to break out! Look, now,
thus shall the battle go. Just as the light
begins TO CLINT upon the oXcn'S hOrns-nOt
before, or it will be too dark, and not later,
or they will he awakening and perceive us
let B0ugwan creep round with ten men
to the top end of tho lIraal, where the mar
row entrance is. Let them silently slay the
sentry there, so that he makes no sound,
and stand ready. Then, Incubu, let thou
and and one of the ASkari-the one with
the broad chest, he is brave man-creep
to the wide entrance that is filed with
thorn-bushes, and there also Stay the SEN
try; and, armed with battlc-axcs, take our
stand, one on each side of the pathway, and
one Il few PAGES beyond, to deal with such
as pass the two ut the gate 1t is there
that the rush viii come. That will leave
sixteen men Let these men be divided
into two parties, with one of which shalt
thou go, MaCumazahn, and with one the
praying man (Mr. Mackcnzie), and, all
armed with rifles, let them make their way
one To the right side of the kraal and one
to the left; and when thou, Macumazahn,
lowest like an OK, all shall open fire with
the guns upon the sleeping men, being very
careful not to hit the little maid. Then
shall Bougwan, ut the far end, and his ten
men raise their war cry, and, springing
over the wall, put the Nasal there to the
sword. And it shall happen that, being
yet heavy with food and sleep, and bewil-
dcred by the firing of the guns, the falling
of men, aud the spears of BOugwan, the
soldiers shall rise and rush like wild game
toward the thorn stopped entrance; and
there the bullets from either side shall
pillow through them, and there shall Incu-
bu and the Aslari and wait for those who
break through. Such IL my plan, Macum-
a2ahn; If thou hast a better, name it."
when he had done, l explained to the
others such portions of this scheme as they
had failed to understand, and they all
joined with me in expressing the greatest
admiration of the acute and Skillful pro
grammc devised by the old Zulu, who was,
indeed, in his own savage fashion, the
finest general | ever knew. After some
discussion, we determined to accept the
scheme rs it stood, as being the best posi-
bile under the circumstances, and giving rs
fair a chance of success MS such forloru
hope would admit ot-which, however,
considering the enormous odds and the
character W our foe; was not very great
An, uiN Nois Saiu 10 l mSlOpoSaaS,
thou knowest how to lie in wait as well
as how TO bite; where to seize as well as
where TO hang on"
"Ay, ny, Macumazahn.' he answered
"For thirty years have | been warrior.
and have seen many things 1t will be
good fight. lsmcll blood tell thee smell
blood"
CHATTER VI.-THE NIGHT WEARS on.
Is nlnN he inn a.rtral ~ h., 1871 o.